Syracuse Power Play Crunches Admirals’ Perfect Start

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Norfolk Admirals (4-1-0-0) surrendered three power play goals as they lost their first game of the 2010-11 season to the Syracuse Crunch (2-2-0-1), 3-1, on Friday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter. The Admirals fell despite out-shooting the Crunch 38-18.

The power play was the story in the game, as Syracuse converted three out of their six opportunities while Norfolk did not convert any of their six opportunities.

Syracuse jumped out to a 2-0 lead mid-way through the first period. Nicolas Deschamps sent a shot from the slot through the legs of Admirals goaltender Cedrick Desjardins at 10:33. Luca Sbisa then scored off a one timer on a five-on-three power play at 12:16.

The Admirals cut their deficit to one goal less than two minutes later on Marc-Antoine Pouliot’s second goal of the season. Blair Jones entered the attacking zone along the right wing and dropped a pass to Mathieu Roy. Roy sent a pass from the top of the right circle to Pouliot at the bottom of the left circle. Pouliot one-timed the puck past the outstretched right leg of Crunch goaltender Timo Pielmeier at 14:06.

The Admirals out-shot the Crunch 26-8 between the second and third periods. However, Syracuse was the only team to find the back of the net in that time, as Deschamps netted his second power play goal of the game 8:25 into the final frame to close out scoring.

The Admirals’ four-game road trip continues tomorrow in Albany as they face off against the Devils at 7:00 p.m.

Individual tickets for all regular season games start at just $12. Tickets are available now at the Scope Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at ticketmaster.com.

Don’t miss a minute of the action by purchasing your 2010-11 season tickets today. Season tickets start at just $350 while 10-Packs are available for as little as $110. Stop by the Admirals’ Administrative Offices at Scope, call (757) 640-1212 weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or visit norfolkadmirals.com anytime!

NOTES … All but two Admirals skaters registered a shot on goal with Blair Jones, Matt Fornataro and Vladimir Mihalik leading the way at four shots on goal … Pierre-Cedric Labrie made his Admirals debut … With the loss Norfolk tonight, the only remaining undefeated American Hockey League team is the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (5-0-0-0), who leads the Admirals by two points for the East Division standings lead … Scratches: Mark Barberio, Stefano Giliati, Alex Berry, Mitch Fritz … Attendance: 4,126.